Breathable, Antimicrobial Smart Fabrics Made of Liquid Metal Could Monitor ECG Heart Signals

A team of international scientists has developed a self-repairing metallic coating treatment for clothing and wearable textiles that can repel bacteria and even monitor a person's electrocardiogram (ECG) heart signals.

Researchers from North Carolina State University (Raleigh, NC, USA), Flinders University (Bedford Park, Australia) and South Korea have reported that the conductive circuits formed by liquid metal (LM) particles can revolutionize wearable electronics and pave the way for advancements in human-machine interfaces, such as soft robotics and health monitoring systems. The "breathable" electronic textiles possess unique self-healing capabilities, even when cut. When significant force is applied to the coated textiles, the particles combine to form a conductive path, enabling circuits to maintain conductivity when stretched. The technique involves dip-coating fabric in an LM particle suspension at room temperature.

Image: The fabric becomes conductive when coated with a special `breathable` metallic layer (Photo courtesy of Flinders University)

The LM-coated textiles provide effective antimicrobial protection against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. This germ-resistant feature not only imparts protective qualities to the treated fabric but also prevents the porous material from contamination during extended wear or contact with others. Gallium-based liquid metal particles exhibit a low melting point, metallic electrical conductivity, high thermal conductivity, virtually no vapor pressure, low toxicity, and antimicrobial properties. LMs possess both fluidic and metallic characteristics, making them promising for applications in microfluidics, soft composites, sensors, thermal switches, and microelectronics. A key advantage of LM is that it can be deposited and patterned at room temperature onto surfaces in ways not feasible with solid metals.

“The conductive patterns autonomously heal when cut by forming new conductive paths along the edge of the cut, providing a self-healing feature which makes these textiles useful as circuit interconnects, Joule heaters and flexible electrodes to measure ECG signals,” said Flinders University medical biotechnology researcher Dr. Khanh Truong.

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NC State University
Flinders University